To the surprise of many at UFC Fight Night 153, Alexander Gustafsson announced his retirement after failing to beat Anthony Smith.
The Light Heavyweight came into the bout looking to redeem himself after his fight with Jon Jones at UFC 232, and despite putting up a valiant effort against Smith, Gustafsson’s frustration over his recent losses reached a boiling point to where the former Light Heavyweight title contender felt that he no longer had what it takes to be inside the octagon (transcript of from
MMA NYTT):
“I fought my last fight against Anthony Smith, and it didn’t go as planned, I felt an incredible frustration. I’m a really sore loser, and I left my gloves in the cage and felt that’s enough now.”
However, it might be possible that Gustafsson may soon cancel his retirement plans as the former UFC fighter does still have the itch to fight:
“With that said, I still have this tingle in my hands. This is very new. It’s been a month, and I’m far from a retired fighter in my way of thinking and such. I’ve made my decision and so on, but it takes times to adapt and accept the new things in life and your role in all of it.”
Gustafsson continues on stating how much mixed martials arts was a big part of his life and that he misses it each and every day:
“MMA has been a large part of my life for a very long time. June first in the Globe Arena was very tough for me and I’m an emotional person, it felt awful after the loss and it felt like ‘game over’ in that moment. I had hoped for a different outcome, but it turned out like it did and somehow I have to move on from that. But of course for every day that passes I miss it more and more,” says Gustafsson.
Gustaffson retired with a professional record of 18 wins and 6 losses.